“You don’t have to be useful. You are not required to come up with something to say.” In reading this poem, this line stuck out to me. For mainly one reason, some humans, spend a lot of our lives trying to figure out our purpose, and I have struggled with this. Trying to think why and what we are supposed to do with our lives. Many times I have felt that you are only important for actions that set you apart from others, that you have to be this huge important person and change lives and pave the way for millions of people. While those people are important, the ones who don’t make “revolutionary” changes are just as important. I don’t need to rush myself to be someone or do something huge to recognize the value and importance of myself. Maybe our purpose isn’t to be “useful”l or to change the world, maybe our purpose is to just enjoy life and love one another. Changing the world doesn’t have to start or end with changing a million people, it can be changing yourself, your community, and your loved ones. I am sure this line can and has been interpreted in many different ways but this line and the last one were extremely comforting to me, there’s no need to rush in life or stress over things we cannot control, because as Stephanie Burt says, “Some of us are going to be okay,” and I know I will be one of them.
This week’s reading on Aganju and Yemaja was of course an interesting one, as they all are. We are first introduced to both Aganju and Yemaja, “Mother of Fish,” who gives birth to Orungan. In the story, Orungan develops a lustful relationship with his mother and decides to pursue this, forcing his mother into relations with her. Yemaja is taken aback by this and rejects all his notions of having a romantic future together. What I found interesting about this, aside from the several counts of incest, was the fact that after this traumatic and painful experience of being taken advantage of by your son, creation follows. In most stories have seen or heard, things of this sort would often lead to catastrophe and destruction, but instead led to the creation of several Gods and Goddesses that in turn gave them rivers, agriculture, wealth, etc. In Yoruba mythology, Yemaja is the central role of a creator, and their origin story is one I am not familiar with at all. My confusion lies within the moments leading up to this creation, I think in one sense it’s obvious that Yemaja is birthing all these Gods from the ravishing that came from Orungan, on the other hand, I don’t know if the creation is coming from the pain and fear she is experiencing. I suppose the creation could be coming from both the traumatic experience and the pain, but would it make a difference if it was coming from one or the other? Regardless, a whole bunch of creations came from it and gave them new life and purposes, or maybe it’s just an optimistic perspective on something really disturbing.
Unveiling Terracentric Vocabulary and Its Relevance in Contemporary Marketing
Advertisement for Meditation Practice class by TotallyMeditation
The deterritorializing preface in Ocean by Steve Mentz reveals how common word associations are deliberate choices and prioritize land over the ocean. Attention is brought to linguistic biases that favor terrestrial environments and overlook the importance of the sea. Steve Mentz’s Ocean teaches readers to recognize terracentric vocabulary and its influence. This insight can be applied to the contemporary marketing and selling of universal happiness, meditation, and spirituality, as showcased in my object of study. Analyzing the specific language of “grounding” as good and spiritually centered favors an individual way of viewing and being. This language also excludes a large non-western demographic and their practices of well-being and values.
Terracentric vocabulary is a term used to describe language and cultural attitudes that center on land-based perspectives at the expense of the Ocean. This includes languages that emphasize the importance of stability and the centrality of land-based environments. The commonness of this language allows for neglect of the Ocean and how it shapes human roles, identity, and history. Some other examples of terracentric vocabulary often used in messages of spirituality and well-being that associate positive attributes with the land environment are grounding, rootedness, and stability. Terracentric vocabulary also reinforces cultural narratives and biases that favor land-based lifestyles over maritime and submarine cultures and industries.
The Deterritorializing Preface by Mentz gives an overview of terracentric vocabulary and how we recognize land as familiar, and ocean as alien. In this preface, there is a portrayal of the Ocean as dynamic and ever-changing which is characterized by its vastness and responsiveness to external features. My object of study: an ad for a meditation class where grounding and centering techniques are taught, is a perfect example of how Mentz’s insight is applied to contemporary marketing practices. Spirituality has been around for a fairly long time, this is an ideology that to many is synonymous with well-being, and mental and emotional health. From our terra-centric standpoint, this has led to various forms of thinking that only favor Western practices and tie together land-based ways of thinking as the only correct form of being
In this advertisement, grounding is explained as an act or technique in which you will “feel unshakeable in the face of controversy and release negative emotions.” There is comfort established in feeling “stable” and “grounded,” both terracentric terms. Being grounded alludes to a state in which you are rooted. The act of being rooted confines you to one place, there is no going forward or backward, only linear progression. In a state of not going backward or forward, I question: is there room for genuine spiritual well-being and growth? Success in the Western world is measured in linear progress. Contrary to success in the Western world, emotional and spiritual growth is not always linear progress.
Ocean by Mentz offers the readers a paradigm, both metaphorically and literally, “nothing stays on the surface forever.” If focusing on terra-centric language as “ground,” were to shift to ocean-centric language, what would happen to what we know about being grounded and rooted? Like our metaphors, we must be flexible and adaptable to ever-changing circumstances, instead of firmly grounded. Not one thing will remain stable or fixed for its entirety. Embracing fluidity and change rather than rigid structures invites us to shift from terra to Oceanus. The unfamiliarity of shifting from terra to Oceanus would not be a bad thing, on the contrary, it may expand our thinking and perspectives of how we view Western and non-Western values and practices. The featured article, The Blue Humanities by John R. Gillis, shares with us that in the Western world, the Ocean was always viewed as a means of transport, “they used the sea merely as a highway to get to the next landfall.” (Gillis) The rise of the blue humanities is a late recognition of this prolonged attitude towards the Ocean by Western Culture. For centuries, even Western explorers on the Ocean were learning more about land than the Ocean, it “was a discovery more by sea than of the sea.” (Gillis). This perspective of the Ocean was not a global one, many cultures and societies, mainly coastal ones have always recognized the Ocean as more than just a passage or an abyss.
Analyzing the advertisement by Totally Meditation allows us to recognize the marketing patterns used for advertising spirituality in Western society as land-based. Everything in this ad is heavily terracentric, from the language to the green color, even the water pictured is green. Extreme land-based marketing excludes cultures and practices that are ocean-centric. Cultures such as the previously mentioned island and coastal communities have always had strong ties to the ocean in their everyday lives and cultural practices and traditions. In these cultures, the Ocean provides sustenance, connects people with their past, and inspires cultural values and traditions. These groups are widely indigenous communities and many of their origin stories begin in the ocean, which guides the harmonious relationship between humans and the Ocean. Unlike Western society, these indigenous communities, such as native Hawaiians, Samoans, and other Indigenous Islander cultures view themselves as stewards of the Ocean. People residing in these communities and cultures would not relate to these terra-centric forms of happiness and well-being.
The terracentric marketing approach shares broader implications for how our Western society has developed and remains in a terracentric environment. An environment that excludes and is hostile towards non-western, ocean-centric ideologies and cultures. There is not only one correct or positive practice of spirituality and well-being, as our terracentric language and this advertisement suggest. Ocean by Mentz allows us to recognize how land-based language has narrowed our perspective and influenced many factors in our everyday lives, such as self-help and spirituality. Recognizing the use of terracentric language in our everyday lives, such as in marketing approaches, is the beginning of reframing our current terracentrism to non-western, ocean-centric. The unfamiliarity of ocean-centric culture and perspective would allow us to reimagine how we see spirituality and being “grounded,” to something more fluctuating and ever-changing, inclusive and welcoming to non-terracentric thinking.
Works Cited
John Gillis, “The Blue Humanities” (Humanities: The Journal of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Web. 2013)
In watching the stop motion short film for this week’s reading, I found the video to be quite pleasant to watch, the colors in the film were very soothing and comforting. The story being told is of African Slaves traveling the middle passage via ship. On this slave ship, there is a point in which the slaves, the majority being pregnant women are thrown into the Ocean, where they are saved by Omambala and turned into mermaids. Their children are soon born of seashell clams. The title of this film, “The Water Will Carry Us Home,” stood out to me. In retrospect, everyone has their perception and definition of “home,” to some people, it is their own house, for others, it can be their hometown or where they grew up. The title using the word home led me to the question: Is the Ocean our home? For many indigenous cultures theirorigin stories begin in the water. Another indigenous origin story I can think of is Turtle Island. In indigenous North American Folklore, their origin story consists of a turtle who holds the world on its back. This being the second origin story I’ve consumed, it has led me to believe why there is a difference in origin beliefs. If so many indigenous cultures share beliefs in coming or beginning in the ocean, where and why did Christians believe in something completely different?
Going back to the language of home, it kind of was comforting to me that Home might be the Ocean. Although it can be scary for some to think about, for most people who enjoy the Ocean and the beach, it was a nice thought to have. Before this video, if I were to think of home I would probably think of a concert place, this short film allowed me to shift my terra-centric form of thinking in regards to what I consider and call my “home.”
Like most of my peers, the noises and sounds in the background of this short film caught my attention. While I was watching it surprised me how it felt strangely peaceful instead of the eerie or haunting feeling. It reminded me of whale sounds and how people use these to help them fall asleep. Aside from the noises, I enjoyed the scene right before the last clip of the mermaid swimming in the open ocean—the one where the mermaid creature is swimming in a sort of canal-looking thing. I think the contrast between the two scenes was fascinating, one moment the mermaid is swimming in a confined man-made space with water in between allowing the mermaid to inhabit and live in this area. This interested me because it shows the duality between “nature,” humans, and man-made objects. While it shows this balance between entities, the next clip is a lot more freeing. Comparing these two clips to each other in my perspective allowed me to appreciate both realities. The one in the canal was a reminder of the world and environment we live in today, where nature and creatures have sort of adapted to all our man-made creations. On the other hand, the last scene in the film felt captivating, because the mermaid was in a big open space, and in my eyes, it looked more natural, but also led me back to the discussions we have had in class about what is versus what is not natural.
Another thing worth pointing out, when doing some research on the director of the film, I found the description of Sirenomelia which included, “Sirenomelia links man, nature and machine and posits possible post-human mythologies.” I thought the post-human aspect was interesting since I was watching with the lens of humans and mermaids co-existing in this universe, but it seems as if it was made in the vision of a post-human environment. I related this posthumanism idea with our climate crisis and the notion that with global warming and climate change, our planet independently will survive, humans on the other hand, may not. On top of this, I thought the concept of this film being directed in a post-human reality was really interesting and I definitely would not have thought about this if I hadn’t read the description from the director.
Before modern scientific exploration, the Ocean was seen as an expanse devoid of life. This was a belief that prevailed until the 19th century. This was mainly due to the Ocean being vastly unknown, there was a lot of space left up to humans to create and imagine many things. Because of this perspective, there were also many superstitions and fears when it came to the ocean’s depths. Eventually, scientists experienced modern technology and were able to explore the Ocean and the diversity of life within. When reading Eric Paul Roorda’s text, many things stood out. Still, on exploring the theme of the Ocean being seen as devoid of life, Roorda mentions how the Ocean was seen as inexhaustible which is one of the reasons for our climate crisis. However, this was not why it stood out, it stands out mainly because of the contrast in views. “The fish and marine mammal populations of the Ocean have also seemed unchangeable, inexhaustible, and impervious to the onslaught of the harvesters. But such is not the case.” (p.1) The Ocean has been overexploited for many years since people began to fish and attempt to conquer the Ocean, which led me to the question: If the Ocean was viewed as devoid of life, why was it also seen as unchangeable and inexhaustible? For me at least, they are two very different states. Something inexhaustible to me is everchanging and abundant, so, if people had seen it almost as lifeless, why did they believe it was an everlasting resource for them?
The Emergence of Environmental Humanities was not eye-opening because it was their first time reading about our environmental crisis, nor will it be the last time. What did catch my attention was a point made towards the middle of the text. We have all been experiencing this concept in this class, the idea and question of whether or not we are apart or a part of nature. “Human beings are not independent of the natural world but are part of it.” (p9). There is an interaction between the environment and humans, which leads me to lean towards humans being apart and dependent on nature, in accordance with what the text says. Others of course can feel differently, and there’s no right or wrong answer but it is important, at least I think so to see where certain beliefs come from and how they have developed, or not developed. Another point in the text is “Human beings are animals and are mortal.” (p10). My first reaction to this line was confusion, mainly because of all our in-class discussions on the line between human and animal, or human and monster. So when I initially read this I was caught a little off guard. When continuing the reading I realized the text was referring to evolution, but I think it plays a bigger role than just that.
The last thing I would like to touch on is the use of the word “interconnectedness,” throughout the reading. The use of it reminds me a lot of the discourse on whether we are or are not a part of the natural world. In a way, it reassures me or leans me even forward to the idea that we are, especially today because of how our actions can and have heavily impacted our environment.
When reading Chris Hans Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, many things came to mind, including the barriers of humans and nature, and things like sacrifice and selflessness. The little mermaid sisters and family were the one thing I could not stop thinking about when and even after finishing. It is clear that the little mermaid upon leaving was in distress and knew she would miss her sisters, her grandmother, and her family in general,”, now that she was dumb and was about to leave them forever. Her heart seemed ready to burst with anguish.” (pg123, Bacchilega). One of the many glimpses of sacrifice in our story is that she continues to leave her family and home behind, hoping to find love with our human prince.
After reading, I asked myself why I could not stop thinking of the sisters she left behind and how now being a daughter of the air, could not return to see her family. It reminded me of a story all too familiar. Growing up as a first-generation Mexican-American, it was exactly the story of my parents and their siblings. Leaving a country, in this case, the sea, for better opportunities, for the mermaid the chance of “true love,” and never being able to return. The Little Mermaid experience parallels the dreams and aspirations of many immigrants looking to leave their homes. A few other parallels I noticed were the struggle with identity, cultural assimilation, and sacrifice. The main one I would like to expand on is the yearning for belonging. Like the little mermaid, immigrants, and the children go through life feeling the same longing, being caught between two cultures and not feeling fit for either of them. In one sense there is a desire to return home, like the little mermaid longing for her sisters or family, but on the other hand, there is a stronger desire to pursue your opportunities and assimilate to a new culture.
The Little Mermaid to me, served as an allegory for the complexities of the immigrant experience. Which I greatly appreciated, and was definitely caught by surprise.
The importance and significance of beauty, attraction, and femininity are all things I have seen and observed in this class. The Faery at the Fountain engraves this in me even deeper, while these things were of importance in this tale, there were also other obvious aspects that I have not seen in stories before. I would like to say this story reminds me a lot of the damsel in distress trope, but the roles are reversed. Raymondin is on the run and seemingly lost when the faery Melusine comes to what seems to be his rescue. While the roles are reversed from what a typical story usually shares, Melusine did not emasculate Raymondin, at least not in my eyes but I am not exactly sure why. “It was always she, indeed, who led.” (p29). Since it is their first time meeting, it leads me to think that Raymondin is not the first nor last man with whom Melusine shares this type of encounter. In the lens mermaids, they both share this sort of enchanting and hypnotic entity, where the men simply cannot resist their beauty and in return the woman, in this case Melusine gives them some sort of knowledge or information. This is what we have seen in the case of mermaids and sirens, it’s interesting to see that faeries also carry this sort of captivating power. Another thing I noticed was the femininity of Melusine and how much of her hair is emphasized, “Then she began to comb it, and as he admired the fine silky, deep tresses he saw the wooden comb that had ran through them..” This was one of the similarities I noticed between the way both Melusine and mermaids have been depicted.
